BENGALURU: In a bid to address the rising concerns surrounding ground water contamination and the presence of heavy metals in water bodies, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, have developed a nanomaterial-based solution that can reduce the presence of heavy metals, like chromium, in groundwater.
Unlike conventional methods, where groundwater is pumped out and then purified using chemical precipitation, absorption, ion exchange and reverse osmosis at different locations, the IISc researchers proposed an on-site alternative which involves using iron nanoparticles that remediate the heavy metals.
“If the groundwater is contaminated, we can inject these nanoparticles into the subsurface groundwater region, where it will react with the chromium and immobilise it, resulting in clear water,” said Prathima Basavaraju, PhD student at Centre for Sustainable Technologies (CST) and lead author of the study. Researchers in the report suggested that the synthesising nanoparticles consisting of nano zero-valent iron (nZVI), along with carboxymethyl cellulose, is promising material for on-site remediation of chromium-contaminated groundwater.
“Places like Bellandur Lake have a lot of contaminated sediments, and this technique can prove quite useful in remediating contaminants such as cadmium, nickel and chromium in contaminated sediments of the water body,” said GL Sivakumar Babu, Professor at CiE and CST, and co-author of the study.
The paper has also been published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering.
Prathima added that chromium enters soil and groundwater through effluents from industries, such as leather tanning, electroplating, and textile manufacturing. Heavy metals enter the environment because of urbanisation and mismanagement by industries.